Rescue Work in Progress and Otto Seaman US Coast Guard Cutter Under Way In Rough Seas.
The boat, the KMP Tunu Pratama Jaya, sank about 25 minutes after leaving, local officials said. The ferry reportedly had 53 passengers, 12 crew, and was carrying 22 vehicles, the search and rescue agency said. A total of 31 people have been rescued to date, many unconscious after struggling for hours in rough waters. The up to 2 metre waves came as nine boats, including tugs and inflatables, were used to search in the dark.
The reason for the sinking could not be immediately determined, but cabinet secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya attributed it later to “bad weather”.President
Prabowo Subianto, who was in Saudi Arabia at the time, ordered emergency response efforts to be started at once.
Passenger List Concerns and Remaining Risks
The ferry crossing from Java to Bali usually lasts about an hour and is a standard route for those taking private vehicles. The authorities have said they were uncertain whether any foreign nationals were among the passengers. Discrepancies are common in Indonesia between passenger manifests and the number of passengers who board as families and friends crisscross the vast nation of 270 million people aboard a fleet of boats, planes, and buses.
Four survivors were able to get into a lifeboat and were rescued early Thursday. Continued search efforts are in an ongoing attempt to find those who are still missing and for further survivors.
Marine accidents are common in Indonesia, which is made up of roughly 17,000 islands. Such accidents are frequently attributed to lax safety enforcement and volatile weather. In a similar incident in March, a boat sank off Bali with 16 people aboard and an Australian woman drowned.
One of the worst such accidents in recent years came in 2018, when more than 150 people drowned after a ferry sank in Lake Toba on Sumatra island.
As efforts to locate the vessel progress, the country will once again note the dire state of maritime safety on its huge and bustling waterways.
